I've always approach weight loss like a race with my self, and it can be problematic, because I dont want to ever step out of line..problem because I have a history of then starving aaaannd then binging, though the binging has really subsided since I stopped sugar and carbs...
Anyway, like tonight, I wanted an apple and peanutbutter (natural of course) and I really didnt need it, and I was thinking about the extra calories and the sugar (apple) and carbs, and I was just like omg, this is not a race! My weight has been steadily going down, about 2 lbs a week, I did 17 miles this week, which is good for me. I know the smaller I get the less I'll need to eat...it not like I'm over eating every night, but if once in a awhile I want an apple and PB, I want to be able to have it.

It always seems like weightloss is this race, "lose 10 pounds in 2 weeks" "lose 15 pounds by monday" "fit into size 0000 by tomorrow"....I feel like I have to take part in the race or I'm not trying.

Anyway, what's your opinion? Are you in a weight loss race? Are you taking your time? Does it matter? I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. As long as I don't turn a slow weight loss into a gain, I supposed its fine...

For the first year, I'd say yes, I was in a WL race with myself and it is likely the reason why I fell off the wagon a couple times since. It sure doesn't help with all the stuff we see on TV, internet, RL with our friends, family, co-workers, strangers, etc. Social comparison is part of life, it's how some of us measure ourselves. In this aspect, it totally sucks.

Often I have to remind myself this is for life, not just for 1-2 years or whatever. So, with my recent restart, I'm going slow and steady without any time limit or frame on it, though admittedly, I do get impatient at times if the scale doesn't budge at all, lol. Even after all this time, I'm still learning in this process. I've never reached maintenance in all of my WL attempts so I definitely still have more learning to go. Like you, I'm not going anywhere anytime soon either. I adore apples with PB especially with a little bit of cinnamon sprinkled on and would gladly take the slower loss!

So, enjoy your apple & PB even if it means a slower loss! Not gaining is definitely a victory as Kaplods would say.

BTW, 17 miles is freaking awesome. I can't even do 1, lol.

__________________Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.- Winston Churchill

This time, no not at all. It was a hard lesson to learn. There really isn't any weight loss at all this time that is the focus. Healthy habits are. Do I want to get to 190 or even 180 or so? Yes. But that is to be my healthiest and most active.

Now there is just this day and the rest of my life and my habits. My moto now is eat well and exercise and weight loss is a 'side effect'.

I do keep tweaking things, learning new recipes, learning new info, new exercises. I did have time goals before but no longer. Being close to 199 now I admit that is kind of enticing. But this time I really was able to approach everything as lifestyle changes. Not easy though.

I will say when I have a bad day my body feels so yucky it kind of self regulates. But some apple and peanut butter, I would be fine with.

So much healthier than last May I can barely believe it. So I've already succeeded. The 190 will come when it comes.

Miraculously, no I don't feel like I'm in a race. When I was dieting then yes I always felt the race - actually I perceive that race feeling as anxiety. Thankfully since I've been doing IE there is no longer that sense of urgency anymore. Dieting was like "please hurry up and get this hungry day over with so that I can reap my reward on the scale tomorrow" type of panic. And the restrict/binge cycle caused even more anxiety. Now it's more about enjoy my day and my food, having fun with my son, being happy to be outside and enjoying my post Physical Therapy strength, and I'm weighing myself a little less too. The anxiety always kills my weightloss efforts so I'm getting rid of the anxiety as much as possible. And I do wear a fitbit but I only look at it once at the end of the day and I never look at the weekly reports anymore.

__________________

"If you pay attention to when you are hungry, what your body wants, what you are eating, when you've had enough, you end the obsession because obsession and awareness cannot coexist." - Geneen Roth

I can relate to the "race" feeling.
I started actively trying to lose weight in 2012. I thought I would lose 100 lbs in a year because it seemed like other people did that "sort of thing" all the time. I pushed myself hard, compared myself to others, and wound up disappointed! When I let go of all of that and appreciated what I did accomplish, it was very freeing.

I think I know what you are talking about with the "race" mindset. I think someone else in a different thread pegged it a bit better for me by calling it more of an obsession than a race. I have an obsessive personality and it's really hard for me to do something without focusing on it. But this has led to difficulty with maintenance, since I need to focus on other things in life. When I don't focus on weight loss/maintenance, things slip and I gain weight.

This time, my focus has been on designing a WOE that I know I can live with in maintenance but still allows me to lose weight (in my case, it's a small eating window and some relatively simple rules about eating that I know I can follow in maintenance). It seems to be working, and it has stopped me from obsessing about my diet, but it hasn't stopped me from becoming obsessive. Signs of my obsession include reading 3fc obsessively and currently unrealistically high amounts of walking (triggered by a pedometer challenge at work).

My hope is that when I transition to maintenance and my focus inevitably is monopolized by other aspects of my life, I will still be able to maintain with my maintenance-friendly WOE despite dropping off 3fc and slacking off the exercise somewhat. (I'm also trying to figure out ways to up my level of exercise as part of my lifestyle, but I want my weight maintenance to succeed without that).